Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Wei pulls Kong Tian away from the Old-Year Pagoda Tree Lord after he experiences ten memory scenes. Kong Yue endures twenty-three, impressing Jiang Wei and highlighting her exceptional ability.
• Kong Tian nearly touches a drifting strand of memory-storing sophora floss. Jiang Wei explains that it can invade a person and seal memories before it lands; once condensed on the ground, it can be safely handled. The Demon-Suppressing Bureau uses this material to make objects that preserve memories, including records of criminals’ confessions.
• Kong Yue leads Chen Miao and Kong Tian around the Heavenly Ruins Tomb, but they find little beyond the ancient village ruins and the great pagoda tree. Kong Yue believes the extraordinary Extraterrestrial Meteorite that formed the sinkhole was likely taken to the Great Xia Imperial Family’s treasury.
• Chen Miao wonders about the imperial family’s power and whether it, too, investigates the power of Immortals and Gods.
• After three fruitless hours, the group leaves before nightfall and returns to the Eastern Mausoleum’s Main Mausoleum. Jiang Wei says the senior officers are still occupied, then parts from them.
• Back at their courtyard, Kong Yue secretly makes two blood-red paper mice. They are difficult to detect through yin control but can be sensed through spirit communication. The mice leave, apparently heading toward Wang Tingsong and Fan Yu’s courtyard.

Character developments and interactions

• Kong Tian shows caution by withdrawing his hand when warned about the sophora floss, a trait Chen Miao sees as a welcome contrast to recklessness.
• Kong Yue demonstrates unusual soul-tempering strength, enduring more memory scenes than the Grave Keepers Jiang Wei knows. She also takes charge of the exploration and later acts covertly with her paper mice.
• Jiang Wei serves as guide and protector, explaining the tomb’s hazards and materials, and remains available to the visitors.
• Chen Miao connects the tomb’s memory-based phenomena to the Old-Year Pagoda Tree Lord’s influence, while continuing to speculate about the imperial family.
• Kong Yue, Chen Miao, and Kong Tian explore together, but their investigation yields no further discoveries.

Significant themes

• Memory as both danger and record: The tomb’s powers can invade, erase, or preserve memories, while the Bureau turns them into evidence.
• Power and hierarchy: Kong Yue’s performance reflects the advantages of great clans, while the imperial family’s control over the Bureau suggests a larger, still-mysterious power structure.
• Hidden agendas and caution: The group’s exploration appears uneventful, but Kong Yue’s discreet surveillance suggests that important developments may be unfolding elsewhere.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Kong Yue secretly warns Kong Tian that their room is being watched. She has discovered a hidden listening device and planted a paper rat to monitor the Wang Family members.
• Kong Yue and her companions pretend they have found nothing unusual in the five major Burial Zones, hoping not to reveal what they know.
• Wang Tingsong realizes Kong Yue may have detected his surveillance. He explains that he had secretly inspected several coffins at Black Fog Cliff: their contents seemed unnaturally preserved, suggesting the bodies or the coffins had been tampered with. He could not investigate further because of the black fog.
• Hoping to secure first place in their investigation, Wang Tingsong decides to trade information with Fan Yu, then potentially trade again with Kong Yue. A blood-red rat secretly observes him, while Chen Miao monitors the room through an invisible mirror.
• Chen Miao returns to reality and reconnects with the Five Prisons Common-Faced God Shrines. He receives the accumulated memories and records from the Shrines’ recent activity, including historical accounts of Cangzhou from other Blood Gate Worlds.
• One account describes an earlier era when the Heavenly Ruins Tomb was called the Sinkhole and the Old-Year Pagoda Tree Lord was known as the Divine Locust. It also records masked people conducting a blood sacrifice, drawing Chen Miao’s attention.

Character developments

• Kong Yue demonstrates caution and ingenuity: she detects surveillance, communicates discreetly, and counters it with her own surveillance.
• Wang Tingsong reveals both investigative persistence and competitive ambition. He uncovered evidence of a mystery at Black Fog Cliff but is more focused on preventing Kong Yue from beating him than on the mystery alone.
• Chen Miao remains detached from the others’ rivalry, prioritizing his return to reality. Once back, he calmly processes the Shrine memories and recognizes the significance of the historical account.

Character interactions

• Kong Yue and Kong Tian coordinate silently to avoid being overheard.
• Wang Tingsong discusses Kong Yue’s capabilities and the coffin mystery with his relatives, then weighs whether to make a deal with Fan Yu.
• Chen Miao observes the schemes of Kong Yue, Wang Tingsong, and Fan Yu from a distance without getting involved.
• The Shrines reconnect Chen Miao to the experiences of other Blood Gate Apostles, expanding his knowledge of the setting’s past.

Significant themes

• Surveillance and counter-surveillance: Nearly every faction is watching or misleading the others.
• Competition and self-interest: Information is treated as currency in the struggle for first place.
• Unresolved historical mystery: The strange coffins, the Divine Locust, and the masked blood sacrificers point toward a deeper connection between past Blood Gate events and the present.
• Knowledge through accumulated experience: The Shrines let Chen Miao access records gathered across different worlds and eras.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Bin gathers the Junior Banner Officers and orders them to leave the Eastern Mausoleum, apparently because he has discovered something more significant than their own findings.
• Before departing, Wu reports that the mausoleum’s Feng Shui Formation has been identified as faulty and can only be temporarily repaired by Master Su. Chief Steward Li Wangchuan angrily warns Wu to tell Banner Commander Han to send a proper team, or he will confront him personally.
• Back in Cangzhou, Wu and Su hurry to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau. Chen Wei returns to the Chen Family, while Kong Yue decides to report Wu and Chen Wei’s unusual behavior to her family.
• Chen Miao returns home and begins his breakthrough from Aperture Cultivation to Underworld Communion, confident he can explain his progress as the result of physical and spiritual training.
• At the Chen Family, Chen Wei tells family head Chen Su that he sensed the Blood Incense Path’s presence in the Eastern Mausoleum’s Main Mausoleum. Chen Su reveals that the sect has been courting powerful Cangzhou officials, even the Governor, hoping to gain public respectability.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Bin appears hurried and guarded, suggesting he has uncovered something important. He accepts Li Wangchuan’s rebuke and promises to pass it on.
• Li Wangchuan remains dissatisfied with the Bureau’s handling of the mausoleum and expects a lasting repair. He and Li Mu also make plans to visit Cangzhou.
• Chen Wei becomes more reserved about what he knows, refusing Wang Tingsong’s attempt to draw him into conversation. He reports the Blood Incense Path’s presence to Chen Su.
• Kong Yue recognizes the significance of Wu and Chen Wei’s behavior and chooses to alert her family.
• Chen Miao moves ahead with his cultivation breakthrough, believing his progress will not attract suspicion.
• Chen Su hints that he knows far more about the Blood Incense Path than Chen Wei does, dismissing its ambitions with contempt.

Significant themes

• Hidden threats and concealed knowledge: The characters sense a larger scheme behind the damaged formation and the Blood Incense Path’s presence.
• Political legitimacy and power: The Blood Incense Path seeks acceptance among the ruling elite, while the Chen Family already enjoys public respect.
• Institutional responsibility: Li Wangchuan’s frustration highlights the consequences of the Bureau’s slow response to a problem that could harm next year’s harvest.
• Advancement and secrecy: Chen Miao’s breakthrough reflects the need to manage how personal growth is perceived.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao reveals that, after returning from the Eastern Mausoleum, he seized an opportunity to break through into the Netherworld Realm. Kong Yue believes the Old-Year Locust Lord’s soul tempering helped him reach it.
• The three squads report their findings about the Eastern Mausoleum to Fire-Banner Commander Han Yu. Fan Yu reports three suspicious points; Wang Tingsong reports two, both already mentioned by Fan Yu.
• Kong Yue presents a carefully edited booklet documenting the anomalies and distinct areas of Ghost Cry Gorge. Han Yu reads it in full and praises its detail.
• Han Yu ranks the squads: Fan Yu’s first, Kong Yue’s second, and Wang Tingsong’s third. Kong Yue is disappointed but accepts the decision.
• Fan Yu’s squad receives substantial rewards: two members are promoted to Junior Banner Officers, Fan Yu gets a chance to advance his Ghost Body Manifestation to the malevolent ghost aspect, and all three may choose a post in any Fire Banner department.
• Han Yu begins announcing rewards for Kong Yue’s squad, but the chapter ends before they are revealed.

Character developments

• Chen Miao has reached the Netherworld Realm, marking a major advancement and making him a true Demon-Suppressing Guard.
• Kong Yue demonstrates initiative and sound judgment: rather than inflate her report, she makes it concise and useful, earning Han Yu’s approval. She is disappointed by second place but remains composed.
• Wang Tingsong appears unusually solemn and self-contained. Kong Yue notices his changed demeanor but does not learn its cause.
• Fan Yu is confident his squad has won and is pleased when they receive first place and valuable rewards.

Significant themes

• Merit and advancement: Recruit assessments offer rare chances for promotion, improved abilities, and better assignments; opportunities become much scarcer afterward.
• Precision over appearance: Kong Yue’s concise, information-rich booklet proves more persuasive than simply adding bulk.
• Unequal prospects: Connections and access to good assignments can strongly shape a Demon-Suppressing Guard’s future.

Character interactions

• Kong Yue welcomes Chen Miao’s breakthrough and links it to his experience in the Eastern Mausoleum.
• During the reports, Kong Yue watches Fan Yu and Wang Tingsong closely, gauging her squad’s chances.
• Han Yu’s direct interest in Kong Yue’s booklet surprises the other squads and signals that her team’s evidence matters.
• Kong Yue and the others formally accept Han Yu’s ranking, while she privately reflects on the advantages Fan Yu’s rewards will bring.

Plot points and events

• After the Star Ruins Ghost Market operation, Kong Yue’s squad receives its merits: Kong Yue earns a medium merit, while Kong Tian and Chen Yang (Chen Miao’s assumed identity) each earn a minor merit.
• Banner Commander Han Yu praises Chen Yang’s performance and combines his three minor merits into one medium merit. He offers Chen a choice: an opportunity to advance to Ghost Body Manifestation by obtaining a Malevolent Ghost Aspect, or promotion to Junior Banner Officer.
• Chen chooses promotion. Some onlookers regard this as shortsighted, and Fan Yu later mocks him for it. Kong Yue is disappointed, believing Chen has passed up a rare chance to strengthen himself.
• Chen explains that, without powerful backing, acquiring an unusual Ghost Aspect could attract unwanted attention. A Junior Banner Officer’s position should offer protection and greater freedom in choosing missions and assignments.
• Chen declines Kong Yue’s offer to arrange dependable guards for him and says he will rely on the Bureau’s arrangements. He chooses to join the Indigo Cavalry, whose work takes members beyond Prefecture City.
• Kong Tian also chooses to leave Kong Yue’s squad for a department better suited to his ambitions. Kong Yue accompanies Chen to register, and he receives his Junior Banner Order.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows himself to be cautious and strategic. Though he tells Kong Yue that his choice is about avoiding trouble as an unsupported officer, he privately wants to avoid Han Yu’s special attention and gain independence for his future plans. His real goal is to earn yin virtue by pursuing ghosts and practitioners of yin cultivation.
• Kong Yue supports Chen and is proud of his work, even crediting him in front of Han Yu. She hopes he will grow stronger and remain in her squad, and offers him help from her family. His departure—and Kong Tian’s—leaves her disappointed.
• Han Yu recognizes Chen’s talent and offers him a valuable advancement choice, suggesting he may be interested in cultivating him.
• Kong Tian asserts his own priorities by leaving the squad rather than taking a chance on staying with Kong Yue.
• Fan Yu needles Chen over his decision, while Chen remains unmoved.

Significant themes

• Independence versus patronage: Chen deliberately avoids relying on powerful sponsors, even when Kong Yue offers support.
• Strength versus security: He turns down a rare chance to advance in power in favor of the safety and autonomy that come with rank.
• Opportunity and risk: The Indigo Cavalry offers a way to pursue meaningful work and earn merits, but its assignments beyond the city bring danger.
• Ambition and divergent paths: Chen, Kong Yue, and Kong Tian each make choices shaped by different goals, gradually pulling the squad apart.

Plot points and events

• On his second day in the Indigo Cavalry, Chen Miao meets his two subordinates, Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi. Both come from Yin Cultivation families, leading Chen to realize he has been grouped with Guards from prominent families.
• Wang Chuan tries to build rapport by inviting Chen to a meal. Chen refuses and immediately sets out to take a mission, insisting that they use their time to hunt rule-breaking Yin Cultivators and Evil Cultivators.
• After leaving Cangzhou, Chen reveals that he has accepted five Grade-D missions in the same area. All must be completed within ten days, or the team risks receiving demerits.
• Wang Chuan protests that five missions require careful preparation, but Chen points out that Wang had said they were ready. He argues that three Guards at the Underworld Communion level can handle the work and rides ahead, leaving Wang anxious about the consequences.

Character developments

• Chen Miao comes across as blunt, action-oriented, and unconcerned with social maneuvering. He expects obedience and is confident his team can complete the missions.
• Wang Chuan is ambitious and politically minded. He hopes to maintain a good relationship with Chen while using his family’s influence to advance, but Chen’s impulsive approach alarms him.
• Jiang Yi is stoic and resigned about his limited prospects. He offers little resistance and seems less invested than Wang in advancement or relationship-building.

Character interactions

• Chen dismisses Wang’s invitation to socialize, frustrating Wang’s attempt to establish a useful alliance.
• Wang and Jiang privately speculate about Chen’s temperament and intentions, with Wang worrying that Chen may obstruct his ambitions.
• When Wang objects to the workload, Chen challenges him over having claimed he was ready, then closes the discussion by asserting their ability to handle the missions.

Significant themes

• Leadership and obedience: Chen’s command style puts decisive action ahead of consensus, while Wang wants cooperation and mutual advantage.
• Ambition and family influence: The Guards’ backgrounds shape their expectations and approaches to career advancement.
• Risk and responsibility: Accepting multiple missions may bring quick results, but missed deadlines carry serious professional penalties.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao arrives in Liusha Town with Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi to investigate suspected Evil Cultivators. The town lies beyond Cangzhou’s protective Grand Feng Shui Formation and is especially tense.
• Wang Chuan urges Chen Miao to keep a low profile, fearing that a conspicuous approach will scare the suspects away. Chen agrees that letting them flee would waste time—but immediately uses his Ghost Body Manifestation and Blood Bamboo splints to strike at once.
• Chen Miao locates three hidden Netherworld Realm yin cultivators and pins them down. Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi join the fight: Wang uses darts and a grief-inducing technique, while Jiang attacks through a cloud of miasma. The three targets are killed, with Chen secretly using the Five Prisons Mark to secure the finishing blows.
• The group takes the corpses to Liusha Town’s Demon-Suppressing Bureau. Chen checks his Notebook and is pleased to have gained more than two jin of yin virtue.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao proves far more capable than Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi expected. His bold entrance was deliberate: he wanted the Evil Cultivators to reveal their malice and give him an excuse to attack. He also treats possible mission penalties as a minor concern.
• Wang Chuan begins distrustful and frustrated, but is impressed by Chen’s strength and by the speed of the mission’s success. His attitude shifts toward guarded optimism.
• Jiang Yi likewise sees a chance in Chen’s unexpected competence, and his hope in working with him grows.
• Wang and Jiang demonstrate effective teamwork once the fight begins, surprising Chen. Afterward, both fall in behind him, their view of him transformed.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: Chen’s reputation as an undeserving appointee clashes with the strength he displays.
• Power and confidence: Chen’s decisive, unconventional approach contrasts with Wang’s caution.
• Trust earned through action: The companions’ attitudes change only after witnessing Chen’s abilities and securing a successful result.

Key plot points and events

• After surviving an ambush near Quicksand Town, Chen Miao identifies Liu Yun’s deputy as a traitor. The deputy fights back, confirming the accusation, and is arrested for questioning in the Prefecture City. Liu Yun is left baffled by Chen Miao’s ability to spot the mole.
• Chen Miao, Wang Chuan, and Jiang Yi travel to Purple Mountain Village for their next mission: villagers and two Demon-Suppressing Guards have disappeared on the nearby mountain.
• The local report claims Purple Mountain is not a yin ground, but Chen Miao’s Qi-Gazing reveals purple qi covering the mountain. He suspects the local Bureau Chief never properly investigated and recognizes that the danger may involve a sophisticated feng shui formation.
• Rather than go straight up, Chen Miao scouts around the mountain and returns to the village to rest. Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi question his caution but follow his orders.
• While his companions drink and assume the day has been wasted, Chen Miao secretly prepares a Paper Effigy, an Eight-Foot Crow, and a Shrine. He then uses the Wood-Merging Art to leave the village alone.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao continues to show sharp judgment and unconventional methods. After acting boldly in Quicksand Town, he is notably cautious at Purple Mountain, preferring preparation and remote action over a direct assault. He sees himself as a leader who prevents danger by acting ahead of his companions.
• Liu Yun is shaken by the discovery of a traitor in his own bureau and impressed by Chen Miao’s insight, though he does not understand how Chen Miao found the culprit.
• Wang Chuan has grown more respectful after seeing Chen Miao’s earlier success. He suppresses his doubts because he hopes Chen Miao’s achievements might help his own career, but his frustration returns when the group appears to waste a day.
• Jiang Yi is also more willing to speak than before, yet remains obedient when Chen Miao changes plans.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi share their frustration over drinks, unaware that Chen Miao is secretly making preparations.

Significant themes

• Hidden threats and perception: Chen Miao sees dangers that others miss, from the mole in Quicksand Town to the suspicious qi over Purple Mountain.
• Neglect and institutional weakness: Remote towns receive poor protection, and some officials may shirk dangerous investigations when they lack prospects or accountability.
• Caution versus bravado: Chen Miao’s apparent inconsistency—boldness in one mission, patience in another—suggests he adapts his approach to the threat.
• Leadership and trust: His companions do not fully understand his methods, but growing confidence in his abilities keeps them following his lead.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao enters Purple Mountain by finding a gap in its feng shui formation, avoiding detection. In White Ape form, he uses Yin Control to follow traces of residual yin energy.
• Wang Tianfu is preparing to evacuate the mountain. His family urgently ordered mature Purple Jiangshi, so he killed herb-gatherers and two Demon-Suppressing Guards to produce a batch of ten. Once the Demon-Suppressing Bureau began investigating, he was told to withdraw.
• Wang and his two subordinates try to lead the Jiangshi away using a bell and a clapper lodged in Wang’s throat. Chen Miao appears and immobilizes the Jiangshi and the men.
• Wang attempts to retreat, but Chen Miao’s fox-immortal power stops him. Afterward, Chen questions the unconscious Wang, learns that the Wang Family is behind the operation, and concludes that Wang knows little about its secrets.
• Chen leaves without pursuing the larger mystery. Eight Jiangshi spontaneously combust; two remain. Wang later wakes to find his subordinates dead and blames the Indigo Cavalry and Demon-Suppressing Guards, vowing revenge. A flash of white in his eyes suggests an unexplained influence.

Character developments

• Chen Miao demonstrates his expertise in feng shui, stealth, and supernatural abilities. He remains focused on completing his mission rather than investigating the Wang Family further.
• Wang Tianfu shifts from pride in his controllable Jiangshi and reluctance to abandon his base to fear and desperation when Chen appears. After waking, he is consumed by anger and vengeance.
• Wang’s subordinates remain largely silent and are killed during the confrontation.

Character interactions

• Wang commands his subordinates to prepare and move the Jiangshi, but their escape is interrupted by Chen.
• Wang tries to command the Jiangshi to attack Chen, only for them to writhe helplessly. He then prepares to defend himself but is ultimately overcome.
• Chen briefly interrogates Wang while he is unconscious, but gains only the family connection, not the reason for the urgent order.

Significant themes

• Hidden schemes and institutional danger: The Wang Family’s clandestine corpse-nurturing operation becomes a serious matter once it involves killing Demon-Suppressing Guards.
• Power and control: Wang’s confidence depends on his ability to command the Jiangshi; once that control fails, he is exposed and vulnerable.
• Cost of violence and vengeance: Wang’s killings help him meet his family’s demand, but the investigation and the deaths around him deepen the conflict and fuel his retaliatory rage.
• Unresolved supernatural influence: The white glimmer in Wang’s eyes hints that something may be affecting him, leaving the chapter’s ending ominous.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao sets out early with Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi to investigate Purple Mountain. He gives them warm flatbreads, and they head up the mountain on foot.
• On the way, Chen asks about their Ghost Body Manifestations. Wang Chuan can summon three pairs of ghost legs, granting him speed and agility; Jiang Yi can create a corrosive, disorienting miasma, though marked allies can navigate it safely.
• The two explain that they used to serve under a Junior Banner Officer who was badly injured three months earlier. Since then, they have been unattached and repeatedly sent to dangerous missions as reinforcements.
• A Purple Jiangshi appears. Wang Chuan pursues it while Jiang Yi spreads miasma to trap and corrode it. Chen avoids Jiang Yi’s unpleasant marking method, choosing to stay clear of the cloud.
• Wang Chuan catches the zombie, and Chen identifies the direction of its controller. Wang Tianfu flees, but a cold force, Wang Chuan’s mourning cry, and a burst of heat overwhelm him, causing his soul body to explode before he can be captured.
• Chen reports that the two remaining zombies also burned themselves up and plans to notify another bureau office so the Bureau can investigate Purple Mountain. As they leave, Wang Chuan sneaks a look at Chen’s booklet: The Demon-Suppressing Guard’s Self-Cultivation.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao comes across as observant and practical: he assesses his subordinates’ abilities, quickly locates the fleeing controller, and accepts that the investigation must be handed over. His refusal to let Jiang Yi mark him adds a comic moment.
• Wang Chuan is eager to please Chen and prove himself. He takes initiative in the fight, but is frustrated when the controller dies before they can question him. He also sees the booklet as a chance to learn Chen’s interests and build rapport.
• Jiang Yi is matter-of-fact about his miasma ability and works effectively with Wang Chuan, coordinating the capture despite Chen’s decision to avoid the cloud.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi’s shared history—and their regret at losing their former officer—helps explain their close teamwork and their relief at joining Chen’s squad.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and career insecurity: The pair’s uncertain assignments after their former leader’s injury reveal how much a reliable superior matters.
• Teamwork and complementary abilities: Wang Chuan’s mobility and attacks work well alongside Jiang Yi’s area-control miasma.
• Duty amid incomplete investigations: The team cannot question the controller or finish the inquiry, so Chen chooses to report the incident and leave further investigation to the Bureau.
• Ambition and social maneuvering: Wang Chuan’s efforts to please Chen show his hope of securing a better position and connection within the squad.

Key plot points and events

• Three days after their previous operations, Chen Miao, Wang Chuan, and Jiang Yi travel through the mountains toward Medicine Village. They have completed four Indigo Cavalry missions in seven days.
• Wang Chuan is impressed by Chen Miao’s apparent knack for finding enemies before they can act. He decides that following Chen’s lead offers him and Jiang Yi a promising route to promotion.
• Medicine Village is known for its unusual rules for herb buyers: trade only with supplies, bring fine incense, seek the mountain god’s approval, and do not kill living things in the village. These customs indicate worship of the Incense Way, though such communities are common far from the Prefecture City.
• The mission began when an herb merchant found a hidden gully full of blood-drained animal corpses. A local scout confirmed the discovery, and the Bureau classified the case as possibly involving blood sacrifice, an evil god, and the Blood Incense Path.
• The team’s orders are conditional: if the Blood Incense Path is confirmed, destroy the god’s statue and purge the village; if not, capture the Village Chief and the three strongest cultivators for interrogation. If the danger is too great, they may withdraw and await reinforcements.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi favor caution, but Chen is privately wondering whether he can absorb divinity from the mountain god’s statue.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains composed and gives practical orders, while keeping his unusual interests to himself. His hidden thought about the statue suggests he may see the mission as an opportunity as well as a danger.
• Wang Chuan has shifted from puzzlement and occasional reluctance to strong admiration and willing service. He scouts ahead when Chen orders him to, and sees the missions as a path to advancement.
• Jiang Yi shares Wang Chuan’s hope of rising through the ranks but, like him, believes they should avoid confronting a potentially dangerous village without support.
• The contrast between Chen’s private ambition and his companions’ cautious approach sets up tension over how the mission will be handled.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and advancement: Chen’s success on repeated missions inspires his subordinates to trust him and imagine better futures.
• Caution versus ambition: The mission offers rewards for decisive action, but an entire village may be involved in a dangerous cult.
• Belief and hidden corruption: Ordinary-looking religious customs may conceal blood sacrifice and a more sinister form of worship.
• Power as opportunity: Chen’s interest in the statue hints at the personal gains he may seek amid the Bureau’s official objectives.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao, Wang Chuan, and Jiang Yi arrive openly in Medicine Village on a Demon-Suppressing Bureau mission. Chen decides there is no point disguising themselves, since the village likely already knows the Bureau is investigating.
• Village Chief Yao Wen greets them and offers a place to rest. Chen instead asks to visit the Mountain God Temple.
• When villagers react with hostility, Wang Chuan attacks one with a yin-infused stone and threatens the others with hidden blades. Yao Wen blocks the blades with vines from his walking stick, apologizes for the villagers, and agrees to lead the party to the temple.
• Chen has sensed numerous hostile thoughts among the villagers, confirming his suspicion that something is wrong. He allows Wang Chuan’s show of force and is prepared to fight—or retreat and investigate later—if necessary.
• At the temple, Chen sees a deer-headed Medicine God statue whose living antlers bear branches and leaves. Yao Wen demonstrates that his staff can grow vines and foliage, explaining that the deity grants villagers an affinity with plants and a special sense for medicinal herbs.
• Chen notices the statue stirs his divinity and his wood-affinity status, but offers only a brief assessment before leaving without worshipping or asking questions.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains controlled and unreadable. He permits Wang Chuan’s aggression because he already suspects the village, but his silence has a different motive from Jiang Yi’s straightforward acceptance of Bureau authority.
• Wang Chuan seeks to prove his usefulness by offering advice and forcefully asserting the Bureau’s authority. He also watches Chen’s reaction, treating his restraint as permission to continue.
• Jiang Yi sees Wang Chuan’s actions as normal conduct for a Demon-Suppressing Guard and does not intervene.
• Yao Wen appears courteous but commands unusual authority: he calms the villagers, controls access to the temple, and demonstrates powers tied to the Medicine God.
• The villagers’ hostility contrasts with Yao Wen’s outward politeness, increasing suspicion around the village.

Significant themes

• Authority and intimidation: The Bureau’s reputation is used to establish control, while Wang Chuan’s violence tests how far Chen will let him go.
• Appearance versus reality: A welcoming village conceals widespread hostility, and the village chief’s ordinary title masks considerable influence.
• Power and perception: Chen’s ability to sense malicious intent shapes his decisions before any open conflict begins.
• Mystery and restraint: The temple’s living statue and plant-based abilities hint at deeper supernatural forces, but Chen chooses to observe rather than reveal what he thinks.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao, Wang Chuan, and Jiang Yi are welcomed to Medicine Village with a meal. Chen refuses to eat the village’s food, instead using his own flatbread, and bluntly questions chief Yao Wen about a report that the village practices blood sacrifices and the Blood Incense Path.
• Yao Wen denies the allegations and says the village worships the Medicine God. Chen asks him to prove it by lighting incense, but Yao says worship can only happen at the temple during the monthly ceremony—in three days, beyond the team’s available time.
• Chen abruptly decides to take Yao and several village leaders back to Prison Suppression for questioning, claiming this is required if the village is innocent. He presents the detention as a way to clear their names, though the real motive is to avoid a dangerous investigation and meet the mission deadline.
• Yao offers money to make an exception, but Chen refuses, insisting that the village is innocent and that he will not damage its reputation. As the group prepares to leave, Yao breaks free and reveals the village’s supernatural power.
• Yao and the villagers display Wooden Antlers. Yao’s powers trap Wang Chuan in a wooden cage and absorb Jiang Yi’s miasma, then render both men unconscious. Yao asks Chen whether he is satisfied.
• Chen reacts with apparent delight rather than alarm when told his companions are unconscious, leaving Yao uneasy about what he is planning.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is deliberately provocative and calculating. He feigns trust in Yao while using procedure as cover to seize the village leaders, then seems unexpectedly pleased when his companions are incapacitated.
• Yao Wen shifts from polite host and denier to a composed, formidable opponent. His repeated attempts to delay the investigation and offer a bribe give way to open resistance.
• Wang Chuan moves from blunt questioning to admiration for Chen’s practical, risk-avoiding plan, but is quickly overpowered.
• Jiang Yi acts decisively when the confrontation begins, releasing his miasma, but Yao neutralizes it and knocks him out.
• Chen’s fake reassurance and Yao’s growing suspicion create a tense, adversarial exchange that turns into combat.

Significant themes

• Deception and distrust: Both sides conceal their intentions—Yao denies wrongdoing, while Chen’s “belief” in the village masks his plan to detain its leaders.
• Pragmatism versus duty: Chen chooses a convenient shortcut over a full investigation, prioritizing survival and the mission deadline.
• Appearance versus reality: A warm welcome hides a possible threat, and Chen’s seemingly calm behavior makes his true intentions hard to read.
• Power and reversal: The guards expect to control the encounter, but Yao’s supernatural abilities swiftly turn the tables.

Key plot points and events

• Yao Wen has three villagers trap Chen Miao in an antler cage, which he claims can suppress yin energy and soul power. Chen Miao tests its strength and crushes part of it with his bare hand.
• Yao Wen reinforces the cage with wooden vines and blood qi, but Chen Miao transforms into a Flame Giant Ape and breaks free effortlessly. A cold force from Chen Miao also invades Yao Wen’s body and damages his soul.
• Convinced Chen Miao is a powerful Demon-Suppressing Bureau commander, Yao Wen uses a blood-based escape technique to flee. Chen Miao realizes the village’s Mountain God statue is false, sends Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi into the Mirror Realm, and pursues Yao Wen in White Ape form.
• The three villagers collapse after Chen Miao leaves; their soul bodies have dissipated.
• Outside the village, Yao Wen resolves to kill Chen Miao before he can report back. He visits a cave and summons the Medicine God, offering a large cloud of blood qi.
• A white figure suddenly appears and absorbs the blood cloud with strands of Blood-Colored Hair, leaving Yao Wen’s offering suspended as crimson strands.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains composed and curious under threat, revealing overwhelming physical strength and formidable transformation abilities. He mocks Yao Wen’s corruption and follows him after uncovering the false statue.
• Yao Wen shifts from arrogant confidence to panic when Chen Miao breaks the cage. He misidentifies Chen Miao as a high-ranking officer, escapes at great cost, and becomes determined to eliminate him.
• The three villagers act as Yao Wen’s instruments in the ambush, but their souls are destroyed by the antler trap’s use.
• Yao Wen and the Medicine God have a worshipper-and-deity relationship: Yao Wen kneels and sacrifices blood qi, but the white figure’s sudden intervention complicates the ritual.

Significant themes

• Power versus appearances: Yao Wen’s supposedly divine cage and Chen Miao’s assumed low rank both prove misleading.
• Corruption and abuse of authority: Chen Miao condemns the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s weakness and corruption as reflected in men like Yao Wen.
• Sacrifice and exploitation: Yao Wen spends his own blood and uses others to gain power, while the villagers pay the ultimate price.
• Uncertainty around the divine: The village statue is revealed as false, while the true Medicine God—or something appearing to be it—remains mysterious.

• Medicine Village’s leader is defeated: Chen Miao strips Yao Wen of his connection to the Medicine God and takes the deer-head carving, leaving it powerless. Yao Wen collapses and dies, still unable to understand what Chen Miao is. Chen Miao discovers that the blood mist came from specially prepared corpses buried beneath the ground. This explains why the village had no women, children, or elderly: Yao Wen had apparently killed them for a blood sacrifice.
• The village is brought down: After Chen Miao leaves, a stag breaks off its burdensome antlers and runs away. Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi recover, uncover the buried corpses, and kill the remaining Blood Incense Path followers, now bereft of divine protection. Merchants stranded in the village are made to transport the bodies; in return, they receive the village’s accumulated medicinal herbs. The Demon-Suppressing Bureau allows Chen Miao to keep the wooden carving rather than bring back the corpses.
• Chen Miao’s companions grow devoted to him: On the return journey, Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi compete to pay for Chen Miao’s meals, grateful that he saved their lives. When he claims to be injured, they cancel their evening plans and take turns guarding his room. Chen Miao, meanwhile, deliberately slows the trip so he can return to reality before the mission deadline.
• A remarkable reward—and a troubling discovery: Back at Tianmen Funeral Home, Chen Miao reviews his gains: eighteen jin of yin virtue in eight days, about twelve jin of it from Medicine Village. Excited by the possibility of earning roughly fifty jin a month, he reflects that becoming an Indigo Cavalry Junior Banner Officer gave him far greater freedom and opportunity than his previous path. But after reading Yao Wen’s Memory Fragment, he erupts in anger at the Blood Incense Path, implying that what he learns threatens his plans for future rewards.
  Themes: The village’s apparent religious devotion conceals murder and exploitation; supernatural power can vanish when its source is broken. The chapter also contrasts Chen Miao’s compassion toward his allies with his increasingly ambitious, reward-focused calculations.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao searches Yao Wen’s memories and learns that Medicine Village joined the Blood Incense Path at least a year ago. A masked recruiter forced Yao Wen’s loyalty by revealing that his family already performed blood sacrifices.
• The recruiter claimed the Blood Incense Path had allied with Yin Cultivation families across Cangzhou and planted followers in high government positions. Its eventual uprising was meant to let it operate openly in Great Xia.
• Yao Wen later received the title Leader of the Medicine God Path, one of the Blood Incense Path’s One Hundred and Eight Paths. When the uprising drew near, he was ordered to “seal away” Medicine Village’s elderly, infirm, women, and children as offerings to the gods.
• Chen Miao suspects the uprising is imminent, especially in light of trouble at the Eastern Mausoleum. He doubts the Blood Incense Path could defeat Cangzhou’s powerful families and Demon-Suppressing Bureau, but worries about the recruiter’s claim that neither Incense Way followers nor Demon-Suppressing Guards would remain inside the capital’s Grand Feng Shui Formation.
• Planning to leave the capital and take distant missions, Chen Miao realizes those assignments might lead him into Blood Incense Path territory. He decides to check whether the Notebook can warn him as he selects missions.
• From the memory fragment, he gains Deer Immortal’s Favor, a wood-aligned ability that grows wooden antlers. While examining them in his office, he is interrupted by Shi Manman, who mistakes his appearance for a costume and asks to attend a comic convention with him.

Character developments and interactions

• Yao Wen was initially skeptical of the Blood Incense Path but joined under coercion after seeing his family’s involvement and fearing for Medicine Village. His faith in the organization grew somewhat as he was named leader of one of its paths.
• Chen Miao shifts from uncovering the past to preparing for an approaching threat. Though he considers fleeing the capital, he recognizes that avoiding danger will be difficult and intends to use the Notebook to assess missions.
• Shi Manman brings a brief comic interruption to Chen Miao’s grim deliberations. His irritation shows when he crushes one of his antlers after her remark.

Significant themes

• Coercion and complicity: Yao Wen’s loyalty begins as a forced choice, while the village’s vulnerable residents are ultimately treated as sacrificial resources.
• Hidden power and political infiltration: The Blood Incense Path has quietly built a wide network, but its confidence in a successful uprising remains mysterious.
• Uncertainty amid danger: Chen Miao knows the scale of the threat but cannot identify how the Path expects to overcome its formidable opponents.
• Uneasy humor: Shi Manman’s casual misunderstanding briefly punctures the chapter’s foreboding mood.

Plot points and events

• After the Medicine Village mission, Chen Miao has 31 jin of Yin Virtue and over a thousand Memory Fragments. His divinity has increased but remains incomplete. He saves his Yin Virtue for the coming crisis in Cangzhou rather than upgrading his statuses.
• He studies the new abilities granted by Deer God’s Blessing, especially its powerful enhancements to Wood-Merging Art and its ability to create wood. He considers infiltrating the Blood Incense Path in disguise but decides the plan is too risky.
• Chen Miao leaves for Cangzhou Prefecture City with Wang Chuan and his companion.
• A Blood Incense Path leader learns that the Medicine God Path and Medicine Village were destroyed by a small group led by a Junior Banner Officer. Though the result seems impossible, he decides the time has come to launch the Path’s plan.
• The Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s Yan Nangui tells deputy Zhong Gui that the Blood Incense Path recently offered to submit to Great Xia, regulate its followers, and stop sacrificing people. Yan suspects the offer is not genuine. He also explains that repeated blood sacrifices gradually erode the Path’s followers’ sanity.
• As Chen Miao nears Cangzhou, a vast surge of blood qi rises from the city, revealing the feng shui formation over the city and the surrounding hundred li. A pair of immense eyes appears above it. Chen Miao then discovers he can no longer activate Ghost Body Manifestation. His Notebook reveals a new status: Incense-Free Domain, where all incense smoke is extinguished.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao becomes more cautious and strategic, reserving resources for the impending crisis while preparing to exploit it if possible. He weighs possible disguises but abandons the most dangerous option.
• The Blood Incense Path leader appears confident and eager to begin a major operation, viewing the destruction of Medicine Village as a reason not to delay.
• Yan Nangui treats Zhong Gui as a trusted deputy and shares the Blood Incense Path’s surprising offer. His calm discussion is interrupted when he senses the sudden disturbance and his own Ghost Body Manifestation fails.
• Zhong Gui reacts with disbelief to the Path’s offer, then understands the connection between blood sacrifice and the followers’ deteriorating judgment.

Significant themes

• Power and sacrifice: Chen Miao’s incomplete divinity and the Blood Incense Path’s dependence on sacrifice both raise questions about the cost of supernatural strength.
• Caution amid opportunity: Chen Miao chooses preparation over immediate upgrades, while still intending to profit from the approaching upheaval.
• Corruption of the mind: Blood sacrifice damages the Path’s followers’ reason and self-awareness, undermining the supposed practicality of their offer to submit.
• A looming, unpredictable crisis: The citywide formation and the new Incense-Free Domain status signal that Cangzhou’s conflict has begun and may affect everyone within its reach.

Plot points and events

• A sudden Incense-Free Domain disables Ghost Body Manifestations across Cangzhou Prefecture. Chen Miao suspects the Blood Incense Path has disrupted the grand feng shui formation, cutting off the Incense Way—and perhaps explaining why Ghost Body Manifestations no longer work.
• Chen weighs returning to the city against fleeing, but concludes the Blood Incense Path likely needs time to bring forces in from its 108 branches. He follows Indigo Cavalry personnel back to Cangzhou Prefecture City.
• The city is placed under martial law: entry and exit are blocked, and returning personnel undergo a blood-scented inspection.
• At the Indigo Cavalry Office, Chen reunites with Kong Yue. They confirm that their Ghost Body Manifestations are unusable, though Chen keeps his broader suspicions to himself.
• A senior officer announces that cultists have damaged the grand formation and orders every Indigo Cavalry Guard to receive an assignment and kill a cultist within the day.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shifts from uncertainty to a cautious assessment of the enemy’s strategy. He recognizes that the city’s defenses have been weakened, but decides returning is still the most practical choice. He withholds what he knows from Kong Yue.
• Kong Yue is concerned by the loss of Ghost Body Manifestations and shares a flatbread with Chen while they compare what they know.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi are also unable to activate their Ghost Body Manifestations; they go separately to gather information and contact acquaintances.
• The Indigo Cavalry leadership responds to the crisis with forceful discipline, demanding action rather than panic.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: The Ghost Body Manifestation is central to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s strength, so its loss leaves the city exposed.
• Uncertainty and secrecy: Chen sees signs of a deeper plot, while most guards know only that their powers have failed.
• Preparation for conflict: Martial law, inspections, and the order to kill cultists mark the start of an organized confrontation with the Blood Incense Path.

Plot points and events

• Senior officials of the Cangzhou Demon-Suppressing Bureau gather in the Council Hall to address the Blood Incense Path’s infiltration. Bureau Chief Chu Xiu questions several officials about possible ties to the cult and its use of yinwood.
• Ghost Market administrator Wei Shu tries to flee, but the hall’s formation traps him. Yan Nangui captures and brands him with a ghost-claw technique. Two other officials, exposed as cultists, sacrifice themselves to summon Immortal-God apparitions and threaten the bureau.
• Deputy Bureau Chief Zeng Yi tears their souls from their bodies and absorbs the apparitions. His soul search reveals the cult’s real plan: its “surrender” was a deception meant to distract the bureau while the cult prepared to seize Cangzhou.
• The cult had infiltrated the Eastern Mausoleum and corrupted its yinwood shipments. Cultists used the undistributed wood in a blood sacrifice, summoning a statue of their deity inside the bureau; yinwood already distributed around the city was also part of the attack. The bureau circulates the statue’s likeness and orders guards to destroy any matching statues.
• While searching, Chen Miao uses Qi-Gazing to locate concentrated blood qi. The statue he finds explodes, and an upright coffin rises from the ground, releasing black fog. The fog spreads from surrounding houses as coffins emerge, making the district resemble Black Fog Cliff.
• Chen Miao wonders where the Profound Pass Corpse Lord is—then Wang Chuan spots a bronze coffin flying through the sky, and the Corpse Lord appears.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Xiu shows himself to be suspicious and probing, exposing officials’ connections through pointed questions rather than accepting their claims.
• Wei Shu’s attempted escape confirms his guilt; Yan Nangui acts decisively to capture him. The other two conspirators choose death and defiance over interrogation, but Zeng Yi’s power defeats them.
• Zeng Yi’s soul-searching provides the bureau with the truth behind the cult’s operation.
• Chen Miao demonstrates initiative and resourcefulness by using Qi-Gazing instead of conventional house-to-house searches. Wang Chuan’s alarm draws the group’s attention to the looming threat.

Significant themes

• Deception and infiltration: The cult’s apparent willingness to surrender conceals a long-planned takeover.
• Institutional vulnerability: The bureau’s own officials, supply chain, and citywide distribution system have been compromised.
• Escalating supernatural danger: A seemingly routine search turns into a citywide crisis involving black fog, emerging coffins, and the arrival of the Corpse Lord.

Plot points and events

• A Bronze Coffin approaches Cangzhou Prefecture City from the Eastern Mausoleum. Chen Miao uses Qi-Gazing to realize it is not simply flying: it is riding the blood-red currents of the city’s feng shui formation, apparently following a route prepared in advance by the Blood Incense Path.
• Black fog spreads through the neighborhood beneath the coffin, killing residents and causing some corpses to begin stirring. Chen Miao quickly leads Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi away.
• The Demon-Suppression Department’s Earth Banner Commander confronts the coffin with the Eight Immortals Poles, joined by fifteen other bearers. Their formation slows the coffin but is shattered; most of the bearers appear dead, and the Commander is badly affected. The coffin crashes into the black fog, which then expands dramatically.
• Chen Miao avoids the catastrophe and heads toward the Wood Banner’s district, hoping to deal with lesser threats. There he sees trees erupting through houses, with emaciated corpses beneath them—a sign that the Mountain-Bound Starveling Lord has appeared.
• Hunger begins affecting Chen Miao, Wang Chuan, and Jiang Yi. Chen Miao’s own soul strength and Clearheart help him resist, but his companions are losing control. He applies the “hunger delusion” status to them, restoring their sanity even as their hunger continues to worsen.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows keen tactical insight, recognizing how the coffin uses the feng shui currents and correctly predicting the danger of the confrontation. He prioritizes escape over curiosity and, despite having no close bond with Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi, chooses to protect them.
• Wang Chuan and Jiang Yi begin the chapter alarmed by the approaching coffin and later become vulnerable to the Starveling Lord’s influence. Chen Miao’s intervention keeps them mentally clear; Wang Chuan notices that he feels unusually strong despite his growing hunger.
• The Earth Banner Commander is revealed to be a Coffin Bearer and demonstrates the power of the Eight Immortals Poles, but even a sixteen-person framework cannot stop the Bronze Coffin.

Significant themes

• Preparation and hidden schemes: The coffin’s precise route suggests the Blood Incense Path has spent years studying the city’s feng shui formation.
• The limits of force: A carefully assembled defense can slow a powerful threat without defeating it.
• Survival and responsibility: Chen Miao repeatedly chooses practical retreat, but he does not abandon his companions when they are in danger.
• Corruption and bodily peril: The black fog, restless corpses, withering trees, and spreading hunger show the supernatural threat taking hold of both the city and its people.